Capo for five string banjo

ABSTRACT

A capo for the fifth string of a five string banjo comprising an elongated guide bar which is mounted flush against the side of the banjo&#39;&#39;s neck laterally adjacent the fifth string, a body slidably mounted on the bar, a lever arm pivotally supported by said body, one end of which extends over the fifth string and means for raising the other end of the lever arm whereby said one end is pivoted down against the fifth string exerting enough pressure thereon to effectively capo it.

United States Patent [191 1111 3,834,267 Shubb et al. Sept. 10, 1974[54] CAPO FOR FIVE STRING BANJO 1,823,683 9/193; Gardner 23/318 6] e o sic d b 1701 woodhaven 3,227,028 l/l96 Srmms 18 Way, Corte Madera, Calif.94611; David Coontz, 24 Concord Ave" Primary ExammerLawrence R. FranklinConcord, m Attorney, Agent, or FirmThornas E. Ciotti [22] Filed: Sept.27, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 401,181 [57] ABSTRACT A capo for the fifth stringof a five string banjo comprising an elongated guide bar which ismounted flush g 84/318 84/ against the side of the banjos neck laterallyadjacent [58] d 314419 the fifth string, a body slidably mounted on thebar, a 0 lever arm pivotally supported by said body, one end of [56] R fC1 d which extends over the fifth string and means for raise erences [eing the other end of the lever arm whereby said one UNITED STATESPATENTS end is pivoted down against the fifth string exerting 370,172 9/1887 Wood 84/318 enough pressure thereon to effectively capo it. 394,530l2/l888 Wood 84/318 416,057 11/1889 Gill et al. 84/318 8 Claims, 3Drawing Figures CAPO FOR FIVE STRING BANJO BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention is a capo for thefifth string of a five string banjo.

2. Description of the Prior Art In order to play a five string banjo incertain keys it is necessary to capo (i.e., shorten the effective lengthof) the fifth string. For other keys it is highly desirable to capo thefifth string.

Various means have been used previously to capo the fifth string of afive string banjo. Perhaps the earliest was to simply affix a small hookbehind one or more of the frets, usually the seventh, ninth and tenthfrets, and to simply thread the string through the desired hook.Unfortunately, the use of such hooks is inconvenient in that the stringmust be retuned after it is removed from the hook. Also, such hooksinterfere with the fretting action on the fifth string and often pullout while in use. Another means was a serpentine bar attached in spacedrelationship to the edge of the banjo neck laterally adjacent the fifthstring with an arm riding thereon which extended out over the fifthstring. The low points on the bar were spaced such that they generallyaligned with the frets so that as the arm was slid along the bar itcontacted and depressed the string at each fret. Such devices generallyput insufficient pressure on the fifth string to effectively capo it.Also, in order to move the arm from one position to another the arm hadto be worked across all the intermediate valleys and ridges in the bar.Yet another device consisted of a straight bar attached in spacedrelationship to the edge of the banjo neck laterally adjacent the fifthstring on which a wire spring was attached. The spring extended from thebar and into contact with the fifth string, employing spring tension todepress the string. This latter device was generally inadequate becausethe amount of spring tension needed to firmly capo the string made thewire spring difficult to slide on the bar. Use of a low tension springresulted in ineffective capoing of the fifth stringgiving aplickety-plick sound. Also, the spaced relationship of the bar and thebanjo neck made it more difficult to grip the neck at the fifth stringposition.

Accordingly, the basic object of this invention is to provide a capo forthe fifth string of a five string banjo which exerts sufficient pressureon the fifth string to effectively capo it and which is also easilyadjustable along the length of the fifth string.

A secondary object of this invention is to provide such a capo whichdoes not interfere with gripping the banjo neck.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a capo for the fifthstring of a five string banjo comprising an elongated guide bar which ismounted on the side of the banjo neck laterally adjacent the fifthstring, a body slidably mounted on the guide bar, a lever arm pivotallysupported by the body, one end of which extends out over the fifthstring, and means for releasably raising the other end of the lever armwhereby said one end is pivoted down against the fifth string.

Preferably the guide bar is mounted flush to the neck side so that itdoes not interfere significantly with gripping the neck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings illustrate an embodimentof the capo of this invention in which FIG. 1 is a dimetric view of thecapo mounted on a five string banjo including a removed view of the capoin detail;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As illustrated in FIG. 1 the capois mounted on a five string banjo, generally designated 10.Specifically, it is mounted on the neck 11 of banjo 10 on the side 12thereof laterally adjacent the fifth string 13 of the banjo.

The capo includes an elongated guide bar 14 of trapezoidal or dovetailcross section (FIG. 2) having holes 15 at its end and middle. Guide bar14 is mounted with its short base flush against side 12 just below edge16 by means of three wood screws 17 which are received through holes 15and screwed into neck 11. It extends from the fifth fret to thethirteenth fret of the banjo so that the fifth string 13 may be capoedat any one of those frets.

A body 18 is mounted on bar 14 such that it may be slid therealong. Asshown in FIG. 2 the side 19 of body 18 has a dovetail way 20 in it whichreceives only a portion of guide bar 14 thereby leaving a space betweenside 12 of the banjo and side 19 of the body. If desired the heads ofscrews 17 at the ends of guide bar 14 may be elevated from the surfaceof the longer base thereof to act as stops for body 18. Round headscrews may be used for this purpose. Correlatively the head of screw 17in the middle of guide bar 14 must be flush with or below that surfacein order to allow body 18 to be slid along bar 14 without interruption.A flat head screw will accomplish this.

The top side 23 of body 18 has a channel 24 in it which extends down asfar as way 20 (FIG. 3). A lever arm, generally designated 25, ispivotally supported within channel 24 on the shank of a screw 26 whichis received in a bore 27 in body 18 which runs parallel to the top side23 and intersects channel 24 at right angles thereto. Lever arm 25 has ahead 28 at one of its ends which extends just out over string 13. It isundesirable to have head 28 extend far out over string 13 because if itdoes it may get in the way of the finger tips as they move over thebanjo strings. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the underside 29 of head 28contacts string 13 and depresses it. Side 29 is inclined slightly sothat it is essentially parallel to the top of the neck 11 when thestring is completely depressed. Extending downwardly from the oppositeend of lever arm 25 is flange 30. The lower end of flange 30 has athreaded bore 34 running perpendicularly through it which receives ascrew 35 having an enlarged head 36.

When the capo is not in use screw 35 is backed off so that the head ofits shank does not contact side 33. A small coilspring 37 which iswrapped around the shank of screw 26 with its one end 38 extendingtransversely across the inner edge of underside 29 of head 28 and itsother end 39 extending downwardly and seated against the upper leg 40 ofbar 14 (FIG. 3), keeps the head end of the lever arm elevated and out ofcontact with string 13. End 39 also exerts enough pressure against leg40 to prevent body 18 from sliding on bar 14 due to its own weight butnot so much pressure that it cannot be easily slid thereon.

To use the capo body 18 is slid along bar 14 to a position adjacent thedesired fret and screw 35 is screwed by hand inwardly toward side 33 ofbody 18. As the head of the shank of screw 35 contacts and bears againstside 33, further turning thereof forces the flanged end of lever arm 25upwardly and correspondingly pivots head 28 downwardly into contact withstring 13. In this manner sufficient pressure may be exerted downwardlyon string 13 to firmly depress it over the adjacent fret. Pressure isrelieved from string 13 by merely turning screw 35 in the oppositedirection.

It is desirable to make flange 30 and screw 35 of such weight that theywill not rattle when the banjo is played. It is also desirable to selecta screw 35 with threading that will require only a few turns to operatethe lever arm.

Various modifications of the above described embodiment may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forinstance the guide bar might be mounted in spaced relationship to theside of the banjo neck and the body might be mounted on the guide bar bymeans other than a dovetailed way.

Similarly other means to elevate one end of the lever arm and depressthe other end down against the fifth string might be employed.

Other such modifications of the above described capo which will beobvious to persons of ordinary mechanical skill are intended to bewithin the scope and spirit of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A capo for the fifth string of a five string banjo comprising:

a. an elongated guide bar adapted for rigid attachment to the side ofthe neck of the banjo laterally of the fifth string thereof;

b. a body slidably mounted on said guide bar for sliding therealonglaterally adjacent said fifth string;

c. a lever arm pivotally mounted on said body, one end of said lever armextending over said fifth string; and

d. means for raising the other end of said arm whereby said one end ispivoted down against said fifth string.

2. The capo according to claim 1 wherein:

e. said guide bar is further adapted to be attached flush against saidside.

3. The capo according to claim 2 wherein:

f. said guide bar has a trapezoidal cross section and is attached tosaid side with its shorter base flush thereagainst; and

g. said body has a dovetail way in it for receiving only a portion ofsaid guide bar. 5 4. The capo according to claim 1 wherein said meansfor raising the other end of said arm comprises:

e. a flange extending from said other end adjacent a side of said bodyand having a threaded bore transversely through it; and f. a screwreceived through said bore, the head of the shank of which bears againstsaid side of said body.

5. The capo according to claim 1 including:

e. a channel formed in said body, and v f. a pin transversing saidchannel on which said lever arm is pivotally mounted.

6. The capo according to claim 1 including:

e. spring means attached to said lever arm and adapted to retain saidone end of said lever arm in a raised position when the capo is not inuse.

7. The capo according to claim 6 wherein said spring means bears on saidguide bar whereby said body is kept from sliding along said bar due toits own weight.

8. A capo for the fifth string of a five string banjo comprising:

a. an elongated guide bar of trapezoidal cross section adapted to beattached to the side of the neck of the banjo laterally of the fifthstring thereof with its shorter base flush against said side;

b. a body having a dovetail way in it for receiving only a portion ofsaid guide bar, said body being adapted to slide along said guide bar;

c. a channel formed in said body;

d. a pin transversing said channel;

e. a lever arm pivotally mounted on said pin, one end of said lever armextending over said fifth string;

f. a flange extending from the other end of said lever arm adjacent aside of said body and having a threaded bore transversing through it;

g. a screw received through said bore, the head of the shank of whichbears against said side of said body;

1. A capo for the fifth string of a five string banjo comprising: a. anelongated guide bar adapted for rigid attachment to the side of the neckof the banjo laterally of the fifth string thereof; b. a body slidablymounted on said guide bar for sliding therealong laterally adjacent saidfifth string; c. a lever arm pivotally mounted on said body, one end ofsaid lever arm extending over said fifth string; and d. means forraising the other end of said arm whereby said one end is pivoted downagainst said fifth string.
 2. The capo according to claim 1 wherein: e.said guide bar is further adapted to be attached flush against saidside.
 3. The capo according to claim 2 wherein: f. said guide bar has atrapezoidal cross section and is attached to said side with its shorterbase flush thereagainst; and g. said body has a dovetail way in it forreceiving only a portion of said guide bar.
 4. The capo according toclaim 1 wherein said means for raising the other end of said armcomprises: e. a flange extending from said other end adjacent a side ofsaid body and having a threaded bore transversely through it; and f. ascrew received through said bore, the head of the shank of which bearsagainst said side of said body.
 5. The capo according to claim 1including: e. a channel formed in said body, and f. a pin transversingsaid channel on which said lever arm is pivotally mounted.
 6. The capoaccording to claim 1 including: e. spring means attached to said leverarm and adapted to retain said one end of said lever arm in a raisedposition when the capo is not in use.
 7. The capo according to claim 6wherein said spring means bears on said guide bar whereby said body iskept from sliding along said bar due to its own weight.
 8. A capo forthe fifth string of a five string banjo comprising: a. an elongatedguide bar of trapezoidal cross section adapted to be attached to theside of the neck of the banjo laterally of the fifth string thereof withits shorter base flush against said side; b. a body having a dovetailway in it for receiving only a portion of said guide bar, said bodybeing adapted to slide along said guide bar; c. a channel formed in saidbody; d. a pin transversing said channel; e. a lever arm pivotallymounted on said pin, one end of said lever arm extending over said fifthstring; f. a flange extending from the other end of said lever armadjacent a side of said body and having a threaded bore transversingthrough it; g. a screw received through said bore, the head of the shankof which bears against said side of said body; h. a coil spring coiledabout said pin, one end of said spring bearing against said one end ofsaid lever arm wherEby said one end of said lever arm is maintained inan elevated position when said capo is not in use, and the other end ofsaid spring bearing against said guide bar whereby said body is keptfrom sliding along the guide bar due to its own weight.